XVI 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GA 



R D E N S 



March, 1907 



SAN I TAS 



The Washable Wall Covering 



SANITAS is the 20th Century wall covering because it is 

 the most enduring, the most cleanly, the most satisfactory 

 hanging made. It is better than paper because it does not 

 tear or fade and because it can be kept fresh and bright. A 

 damp cloth cleans it. 



It is as beautiful as any material now sold for walls, and 

 its range of patterns includes printed burlaps, plain tints, 

 tapestry and floral designs and many glazed tiles and tints. 



There is no room of a house which cannot be beautified 

 by SANITAS. 



Write for samples and room sketches. 



The Leatherole Company 



24 East 22d St. New York 



SYK5 



TWO BEST LATHS INxTHC WORLD 



METAL LATH a ROOFING CO. '^"ifi^S^'^ 



j:H.BROOKSfiCo.CU!(£t^'0- 



igooR&SiDEWALK Lights, 



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ISENDf^PCATALOGUE. 



i6 



THROUGH FRISCO'S FURNACE" 



EDITION 

 DE LUXE 



Illustrations of seven modern steel-frame buildings at San Francisco that withstood the earthquakes and fire 

 of April_ 18, 1906, with reports on the rust-resisting qualities of Dixon's Silica-Graphite Paint on the 

 Write for a free copy of Book No. B 106. 



steelwork. 



JOSEPH DIXON CRUCIBLE CO., JERSEY CITY, U.S.A. 



Peas can be sown very early in the season. 

 In fact, they must be sown early, if you want 

 a good crop from them. Late sown peas are 

 failures as a general thing. Get your seed 

 of this most delicious vegetable into the ground 

 as soon as the latter is in workable condition. 

 Sow thickly and cover well. Be sure to have 

 a good supply of early varieties. For a late 

 crop, there is no variety superior to the good 

 old Champion of England. 



Do not uncover raspberries, blackberries, or 

 grapes until the danger of frosty nights is 

 past. If uncovered too early in the season 

 they frequently make a start, and will have 

 got fairly to growing when a "cold spell" 

 comes along and kills the swelling buds. Bet- 

 ter leave them where they will remain dor- 

 mant until all danger of this kind is over. 



If you have not ordered garden seeds, do 

 so at once. Get the best seed you can find. 

 It may cost you more than ordinary seed, but 

 the extra cost will be money well invested. 



Send in your order for asparagus and rhu- 

 barb plants, if any are to be set this spring. 

 If they arrive before you have the ground 

 ready for them, spread them out in the cellar, 

 and keep them damp by covering with moss 

 or old carpeting until you have the ground pre- 

 pared for them. 



Set asparagus two feet apart in the row. 

 Let the rows be at least three feet apart. This 

 will give you a chance to work among them 

 with the garden cultivator during the summer. 

 I would advise two-year-old plants. Set them 

 so that their crowns will be at least four 

 inches below the surface. Have the ground 

 dug up to the depth of two feet and heavily 

 manured. Keep the weeds down, and don't 

 cut the plants any the first season. 



Make the soil rich and deep for rhubarb. 

 Set the plants two feet or more apart. Buy 

 strong roots, of the best variety. 



Arrange the garden in advance. It is a 

 most excellent plan to make a rough diagram 

 of it on paper. If this is done, you can locate 

 your plants to the best advantage, because your 

 plan will be made while you have leisure to 

 give the matter careful thought. If you have 

 no plan when the season opens, quite likely, 

 in the rush of the work, a good many of your 

 plants will get in the wrong places. Avoid 

 the possibility of this by deciding where they 

 shall be beforehand. Aim to plant the tall- 

 growing sorts at the north side, where they 

 will not shade the low-growing kinds. 



Give up the warmest places to such vege- 

 tables as you want to make a quick growth. 



Arrange for rows, instead of beds. Keep 

 the garden cultivator and its use in mind. 

 Where this can be operated to advantage — as 

 it always can under a system of row-planting 

 — the work of weeding can be so simplified 

 that it need not be dreaded in the least. With 

 a cultivator, a man — or a boy — can do more in 

 an hour — and do it better, too — than he could 

 do in a day with a hoe. It is an easy matter 

 to keep the garden free from weeds where the 

 cultivator is used, and in disposing of the 

 weeds the soil is so stirred that no work with 

 the hoe is needed. You "kill two birds with 

 one stone." 



What has been said about uncovering garden 

 small fruits too early applies with equal perti- 

 nence to roses and other tender shrubs and to 

 the bulb-beds. Nothing is gained by being in 

 haste to remove winter protection, and quite 

 often all is lost. Wait until you are sure the 

 weather is settled before uncovering them. 

 Then they will come forward rapidly and 

 satisfactorily. 



If any changes are to be made in the border, 

 or among the shrubbery, plan for it now. 

 Decide just what you want to do. Never go 

 at any work of this kind in haphazard fashion. 

 Have a definite aim in view, and work toward 

 it steadily. If this is done, the home grounds 



